


A Rose Amongst the Stars

by rudennotgingr



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-17
Updated: 2013-10-17
Packaged: 2017-12-29 16:01:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1007325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rudennotgingr/pseuds/rudennotgingr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor creates a gift for Rose to see all the way in the other universe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Rose Amongst the Stars

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to sorrywhatever and valiantdefenderoftheearth for reading before I posted. Inspired by a post of the rose galaxy from Tumblr by insomniaswords.

His shoulders sagged heavily, the weight of his responsibility to the universe threatening to crush him completely. It would almost be a welcomed fate. Blissful oblivion would be better than this. Better than the ache in his chest, the feeling of brokenness that rested in his battered hearts.

He hadn't slept for...how long had it been? Days? Weeks? Months? Probably the latter. He had tried sleep at first. Naively thinking that he could drown the pain in blackness and dreams. He was wrong. Considering his experiences after the Time War, he really should have known better. Dreams quickly became nightmares. Even the dreams that somehow remained untainted fantasies left him feeling overcome with loss and regret.

Exhaustion seeped out of his pores, muscles ached from lack of energy. His back was stiff from days (weeks?) spent hunched over various charts and calculations. He had given up hope of crossing the void and getting back to Rose. Oh, there were ways (weren’t there always?). But they all ended up with the same eventual result. The collapse of both universes, and every other universe there ever was. Reality cracking and splintering until the whole thing crumbled, crashing down and ceasing to exist.

Sometimes it would be instantaneous, all of reality imploding as soon as he crossed over, no guarantee that he would even see Rose before his own time line fizzled out of existence. Those cases were very much _not_ worth it.

But there were others. Shiny, tantalizing gems that taunted him in his weakest moments. Possibilities where he had months, years, centuries even, before the results of his actions caught up to him. It would be so easy to do. Find the right one, the one where he had ample time to cross over and spend the rest of Rose Tyler’s forever safe in her arms.

There was no way she would want, or let, him do such a thing. He knew she yearned to be with him just as badly, but she would never sacrifice the universe for her own happiness. Her confession of love echoed in his mind and burned in his hearts. He knew, had always known (how could he not?). But hearing the words tumble from her lips, stuck in a place where he could not touch her...that’s not how it was meant to happen.

Even though he knew, the words had shocked him, causing him to waste precious seconds. Walls he had spent centuries building up, toppled completely at three little words. Then the irony. The one gift he could give back, letting her hear the same words spill from his mouth, wrapping each one with all the love he felt for her coursing through his being...that one gift, lost. He ran out of time. The last of the Time Lords, not able to keep track of a few measly Earth minutes, some of the most precious and important minutes in his life.

Regret washed over him once again. Pulling off his glasses, he rubbed his forehead. He had failed to find a way back to her, failed to tell her how he felt. He wouldn’t fail at this. It had taken time to carefully plot and plan. But it had given him a welcome distraction. And if it worked, which he was sure it would, then it would all be worth it.

He ran over the calculations for what was quite literally the hundredth time. If Rose wouldn’t want him ripping apart the fabric of reality to get to her, she definitely wouldn’t be pleased if the same result happened merely because he had the silly desire to paint her a picture in the sky. He had stumbled across the idea quite by accident. After her declaration of love, he had thrown himself into a frenzy, trying to find a way through. 

Running a simulation, intended for the TARDIS to slip through a crack between universes, he noticed how moving things in this universe affected their counterparts in Pete’s World. It was a brilliant, marvelous accident. He thanked gods he most certainly did not believe in for the revelation.

A great deal of time had been spent wondering just _what_ he wanted to do with the new information. He had paced frantically back and forth, tugging fistfuls of his hair in frustration. There were no assurances that Rose would see it (although part of him knew she would spend a good deal of time looking at the stars), but he wanted it to be something that was blatantly him. Something that she would know without a doubt that he had done for her.

He lost track of time (some Time Lord he was shaping up to be), thoughts lost to stars and Rose Tyler. Rose. He slapped his forehead, the sound echoing in the otherwise empty console room. He winced, earning tinkling laughter from the time ship. The solution was so, so simple. And so blatantly obvious. Also slightly cheesy. Rose would love it.

Grinning like a mad man, he stepped up to the console. "Ready old girl?"

The TARDIS hummed appreciatively in his mind. She had missed Rose too. They would have to be precise, and it would take a good deal out of both of them. It didnt matter. Anything for her.

The next several days (3 days 17 hours 20 minutes and .06 seconds to be exact) went by in a monotonous blur. His hands danced expertly among the controls, body vibrating with purpose and excitement. The clang of metal beneath his trainers and his labored breathing were the only sounds in the room. He had never (and would never again) piloted the TARDIS with such efficiency.

Wiping sweat from his brow, he walked to the doors. The ship was adrift in space. He wanted to see the fruits of his endeavour first hand, not over the monitor.

Flinging the doors wide, his breath caught in his throat. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Well, second most. He had meticulously selected planets, stars, galaxies, and a vast array of other masses to combine into the image before him. He was careful not disturb local affairs, avoiding using anything with fixed points in time. It took every ounce of his Time Lord brain to take in all the considerations while making sure it would have the desired ripple effect in the alternate universe.

The main mass was a swirl of creams and dusty pinks. Hues of deep red and an almost rust brown streamed through, highlighting the lighter swirls. Inky black space gave shadows and dimension to the colored appearance of petals. A single strand floated elegantly downward and away from the main cluster, the perfect stem. Pale blues dotted the serene image before him, clinging to the formation like dew drops. A rose galaxy for his beloved Rose. It was perfect.

He sat in the open doorway, feet dangling into nothingness. He alternated observing his masterpiece and closing his eyes, imagining the look in her eyes as she saw the same formation worlds apart. A twinge of sadness hit him. He would never get to look upon this gift with her. Tears slipped down his cheeks as the Time Lord gave himself over to his immeasurable grief.

.....

Across time and space, across dimensions really, Rose Tyler sat outside on her balcony, knees curled up to her chest on her favorite lounge chair. Even though the attached bedroom was slightly smaller than the one her mum had originally set up for her, she had been adamant about taking this one instead. The other didn't have a balcony. She needed to be close to the stars.

Every night she sat outside, gazing skyward, thoughts dwelling on her lonely Time Lord. Sometimes they were fond memories, leaving her with joy for the time they had spent together. More often than not, she cried. Her heart was broken, and she knew he was hurting just as bad. That hurt even more.

Even so, Rose Tyler didn't mope. There was no point. She began working at Torchwood, proving to be an invaluable asset. She threw herself into her work during the day, keeping thoughts of the Doctor at bay. At night she succumbed, letting a vast array of emotion wash over her, usually leaving her face swollen and tear stained.

She spent so much time looking at it that she knew she wasn't losing her mind when the sky began to change. Stars and planets didn't go missing, they simply moved. It puzzled her and every expert at Torchwood. There was nothing for them to do but watch.

Slowly an image began to form. The night she recognized what it was, a fresh wave of grief pounded into her aching heart. A rose. A single perfect rose. The colors were breath taking. There was no question in her mind how it got there.  
The Doctor had given her one last gift, one she would cherish for the rest of her life. That night her tears were bittersweet, a feeling of overwhelming love tarnished by a renewed sense of loss.

.....

Years later, Rose noticed another odd occurrence in the night sky. The stars were going out. The universe needed the Doctor.

Fighting tooth and nail, she finally, _finally_ , made her way back to him. It was everything and nothing like she had expected. It was so perfectly them.

It ended before it had a chance to start.

....

She was left on the cold, wind swept beach of Bad Wolf Bay once again. She wasn't alone this time. A part human version of the Doctor had stayed with her, pledging his forever, now matching in length, to her. Her heart was bursting with happiness and shattering with grief all at the same time. She knew in her heart that he was the Doctor. But she also knew that the full Time Lord him would be going back to a universe and reality without her.

That first night, she snuck out of their hotel room to look at the stars, leaving the metacrisis Doctor sprawled out on the couch where he had passed out hours before.

.....

He awoke to an empty hotel room. His first instinct was to panic. Not even 24 hours and he had lost her, again. Willing his now single heart back into a steady rhythm, he had an idea of where else to look.

Sure enough, he found her outside, huddled up on a blanket in a secluded area of the hotel lawn. Silently he sat next to her, trying to gauge her mood. Earlier she had reassured him that she knew he was the same man. They had talked before he passed out on her, his partial human body not used to the exertion and strain of the previous days events. Had he upset her?

Once he was seated beside her, long legs crossed and unsure what to do with his arms, she leaned her head onto his shoulder. His heart skipped several beats before settling into a quickened pace. He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close, resting his cheek on her soft golden hair.

A comfortable silence settled between them. They gazed up at the stars, unknowingly watching the same point in space.

Her quiet voice interrupted his wandering thoughts (although all of them were about her and how lucky he was to have her tucked under his arm). "I never got to tell you...well, him. And now I never will." Her voice broke at the end, and he could tell she was on the verge of tears.

He pulled back just enough to glimpse part of her face, sad eyes twinkling in the starlight. He didn’t understand. Tell him what? That she loved him? She had told him. Both of him, since they had been the same man then. "Tell him what?" His own voice was tender, laced with concern.

"Thank you."

His brow furrowed deeper. "For what?"

"For that." She pointed to the swirling mass in the sky. "And for you." Her arm dropped and her head sagged, gaze now fixed on the grass.

His breath caught in his throat, intense love for his beautiful pink and yellow girl bursting from every pore in his body. He hooked a finger under her chin, tilting her head to look at his face. "Oh, Rose."

The soft reverence with which he spoke her name had her hearts stuttering and tears burning at her eyes.

His gaze pierced into the depths if her soul, not with judgement, but with awe and wonder. His love was a tangible thing in this moment, wrapping her up and surrounding her, an embrace all it's own. 

He willed her to believe him, pouring all his emotions into his next statement. "He knows."

It was because she believed him that she let the tears fall. Trusting this him to piece her back together after she fell apart.

His warm, comforting kisses erased the cold tear tracks on her face. Slow, lazy comfort became frantic, burning desire. Years of regret, and chances both missed and lost, coming to a head. They made love on the grass, creating worlds and universes all their very own.


End file.
